Trump slammed for failing to tell congress of Soleimani strike: ‘This was put in the constitution for a reason’

Democrats say they were left in the dark a second time, following the killing of Isis leader last year

Democrats are furious after Donald Trump failed to notify top congressional leaders before conducting Thursday’s operation to kill Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.

The Defence Department acknowledged conducting missile strikes at Baghdad’s international airport to kill Soleimani, who a Pentagon spokesperson accused of “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region”.

However, the only member of congress who appeared to have had advance knowledge of the attack was Senate Judiciary Committee chair Lindsey Graham, who on Friday told Fox News that he was briefed on the operation during a visit with Mr Trump at his company’s Florida golf club.

“I was briefed about the potential operation when I was down in Florida,” Sen Graham said, adding that he “appreciate[d] being brought into the orbit”.

But Mr Trump’s reluctance to share his plans with congress may have violated a US law requiring the president to, at minimum, brief the so-called “gang of eight” – the speaker of the House, House minority leader, the Senate majority and minority leaders, and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees – on covert actions.

While such notifications are not required for actions taken for “traditional military activities”, custom has long dictated that those eight members of congress be briefed on military actions like the one against Soleimani as part of the president’s constitutional obligation to receive the legislative branch’s permission to make war.

The strike against the Iranian general was the second targeted attack on a high-value target which Mr Trump undertook without notifying congressional leaders.

After Delta Force soldiers conducted an operation to kill Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October, Mr Trump told reporters he had deliberately failed to notify two “gang of eight” members – Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, and House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff. Mr Trump claimed – without providing evidence – that the two top Democrats were security risks.

“We were going to notify them last night but we decided not to do that because Washington leaks like I’ve never seen before,” Trump said at the time. “There’s nothing – there’s no country in the world that leaks like we do. And Washington is a leaking machine. And I told my people we will not notify them until the... our great people are out. Not just in, but out. I don’t want to have them greeted with firepower like you wouldn’t believe.”

While speaking on the Senate floor on Friday morning, Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he had spoken with Mark Esper, the defence secretary, about Thursday’s events and was working to arrange a classified briefing for all senators next week.

But moments later, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said he was not briefed on the operation and criticised the president for conducting it “without specific authorisation and any advanced notification or consultation with congress”.

“The need for advance consultation and transparency with congress was put in the constitution for a reason – because the lack of advanced consultation and transparency with congress can lead to hasty and ill-considered decisions,” he said, adding that such decisions should not be made in a vacuum.

“The framers of the constitution gave war powers to the legislature and made the executive the commander in chief for the precise reason of forcing the two branches of government to consult with one another when it came to matters of war and a peace,” he continued. “It is paramount for administrations to get an outside view to prevent group think and rash action, to be asked probing questions, not from your inner and often insulated circle, but from others, particularly congress, which forces an administration before it acts to answer very serious questions.”

In a statement, Ms Pelosi said the entire US congress “must be immediately briefed on this serious situation and on the next steps under consideration by the administration, including the significant escalation of the deployment of additional troops to the region”.

Concurring with the speaker, House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Eliot Engel said the failure to notify congress “raises serious legal problems and is an affront to congress’s powers as a coequal branch of government”.

“Even if this strike was in self-defence, no current congressional authorisation covered it and the president needs to notify congress within 48 hours pursuant to the War Powers Resolution. The law requires notification so the president can’t plunge the United States into ill-considered wars,” he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a query from The Independent as to why congressional leaders were not briefed before the strike.